Even after living in Paris for 30 years, Gilles Lamiot, proprietor of this highly satisfying restaurant near the Luxembourg Garden, sounds as though he’s just come in from branding cattle. As it should be in a restaurant that is an ode to both a rural region—Auvergne—and a cow—the Ferrandaise.
“I buy my calf directly from the farmer—130 to 140 kilos, five months old. I pay the slaughterhouse. I get it delivered.”
That’s Mr. Lamiot talking about the Ferrandaise, a race from the hills of Auvergne region in the center of France. Once THE cow of Auvergne, the Ferrandaise, like the Norman cow (of Normandy), dwindled in numbers in favor of the breed-em-and-reap approach of the industrial cattle industry. However, in the past few decades the Ferrandaise, like the Norman, has made a comeback in less intensive breeding.
The menu here changes about every six weeks with a nice variety of starters and of hearty main courses of fish, fowl, lamb, and pork, so all tastes can be met. But the veal and associated parts form its centerpiece: braised, grilled, tongue, sweetbreads.
Mr. Lamiot knows his product intimately, but he isn’t the chef. Have a look at this photo and you’ll see that the chef is actually a 12-year-old boy named Kevin.
Okay, maybe Kevin’s a little more than 12, but he still looks like he should be playing hooky rather than poaching tongue and braising veal!
I’m not one to order tongue, but I’m not one to refuse a taste from a dining companion’s plate either. It was delicious, truly, almost sweet in its tenderness.
My choice was a thick butcher’s cut of veal with ratatouille of (organic) veggies, a dish so direct and earnest as to be just what a guy wants after exploring a quarter that’s best known for its glossy charm, romantic park, and designer pastries.
Desserts at La Ferrandaise, among them a memorable mille-feuille, maintain the restaurant’s consistent quality, but to pursue the regional adventure at least one person at the table should order the plate of regional cow cheeses—Saint-Nectaire, Bleu de Laqueuille, and Fourme de Rochefort, that evening—which fairly mild in French terms yet offer a taste of the farm.
Service is kindly. In fact, this is a well-behaved restaurant that naturally attracts international travelers staying in the many hotels in the area, hence the menu in Japanese and English. Nevertheless, I especially appreciate the lack of pretension of La Ferrandaise and the way its proprietor neither denies his its location near the Luxembourg Garden nor his roots in rural France.
This quarter is chock full of decent mid-range restaurants proposing 30-45€ fixed-price menus. La Ferrandaise is among the best of them.
La Ferrandaise 8 rue de Vaugirard, 6th arrondissement. Metro Odéon, RER Luxembourg. Tel. 01 43 26 36 36.www.laferrandaise.com. Closed Sat. lunch, Sun.
© 2009, Gary Lee Kraut
Restaurant retested and reapproved in 2010. Slight upgrade of decor, same tasty, hearty fare.